thaFormula.com - How was it working with Jaguar?

?uestlove - Jag is a high caliber artist and any artist that you see my name associated with, is somebody that I feel strongly about. I don’t just play for anybody. D'angelo, Common, Nikka Costa, or Erykah and my own group, uh, I believe are in a certain level of excellence and quality. Jaguar definitely brings that out. The best part of working with her was that I finally met an artist that let me get away with all the sounds that I stole from Prince on her record. So she's with it, you know (Laughs).

thaFormula.com - What do you think is gonna separate her from Jill Scott?

?uestlove - I think Jill Scott has sort of like a Beatles approach which is sort of an embraced approach. She's is sort of a spirit that is very gentle. Jag is very abrasive and aggressive. I think Jag is the Rolling Stones, to Jill's Beatles. I'm just very fortunate to have met them both on the same night. Actually, Jag, Bilal, and Jill I seen perform for the first time while I was on the Jam Session. I was drumming and the three of them got on stage and just murdered it.

thaFormula.com - How come you didn't do any work on the Jill Scott album like you did with Jag as far as overseeing the project?

?uestlove - I was on tour with D'angelo and was really unable to devote any time at all of the year of 2000. So from October of 1999 to October of 2000, I did nothing but give my life to watching the fruits of the Voodoo album blossom. Which meant not working with Jill, which I definitely wanted to do. Which meant going on sabbatical from my own group for a whole year. Which also meant putting off Common's record for a year. It meant a lot of things, but you know, I don't regret any decisions. Jill ain't going no where and she's got another album coming out. We are gonna work together. She's on The Roots album and the next Common album, so you know…

thaFormula.com - Were you disappointed with the Bilal album at all?

?uestlove - Nah, but with anything I would have dropped like 4 or 5 songs. That album to me is like a very bold artistic achievement and he is hands down the best singer in this so-called “neo-soul” movement or whatever you want to call it.

thaFormula.com - Is this “neo-soul” thing something you guys came up with or just a label that was given to your music?

?uestlove - We been labeled, but I think we had a lot to do with the prototype. I mean everything is post A Tribe Called Quest anyway.

thaFormula.com - What's the deal with the Beat Generation album you’re working on?

?uestlove - The Randy Watson Project. It's The Randy Watson Project, which is named after Randy Watson from Coming To America, and the album is called "Good and Terrible". It's me and James Poysner.

thaFormula.com - Will their be rapping on it like the previous Beat Generation albums, or will it be just instrumentals?

?uestlove - Nah, it's gonna be singing. We have our background singers called The Mighty Sharps. I can't reveal them, but basically it’s three very high profile women that I work with. One of them you just mentioned. But I gotta finish the “Phrenology” record first. As soon as I finish the “Phrenology” album, then I'll move on to that.

thaFormula.com - When should people expect from the new Roots album & will there be any guest mc's on the album?

?uestlove - I don't want it to be, but I know that we got Jill. We’re talking to Andre of Outkast right now about doing a chorus and out of left field Project Pat.

thaFormula.com - Project Pat???

?uestlove - Man, I'm telling you. I just want to shatter every expectation of what this group is supposed to be. Like everyday when I walk through Philly, it's like some people see me and they think I'm the Latrell Sprewell commercial guy and that's it. Now I'm the Saturday night DJ at Filos, a local club in Philly. There like, "uh, do you have a card or do you do weddings."

thaFormula.com - How was it following Jazzy Jeff behind the tables?

?uestlove - It was cool. In the last hour I finally hung with Jeff. When I packed my records, I decided to pack a lot of obscure shit that I knew people were with.

thaFormula.com - So you tried to get something that he wouldn't even come with?

?uestlove - Right. So I started playing like, "Another One Bites the Dust" and shit like that. We just went back and forth. It was fun and I'll do it again, but I won't be such a pussy next time!

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